


a boy and a dog

by dinglehorton



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 21:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10557742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinglehorton/pseuds/dinglehorton
Summary: Robert adopts a dog for Aaron.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i might turn this into a series idk. for Haley, the best and kindest person i know, i hope you like it, love <333
> 
> ignores most of the current canon and the R/R shit cos we all need a lil bit of fluff right now. a tiny mention of panic attacks but nothing more than that. all mistakes are my own. i hope it isn't too terribly ooc..

Robert comes home from a long day of work to find Aaron sitting on their couch, his socked feet resting on the coffee table in front of him with one hand buried in the brown fur of a dog. The exact dog that Robert had asked Paddy to find for Aaron. The exact dog that Robert had initially set up to be a surprise. Weeks had passed since Aaron had been released on appeal, and the panic attacks were still a common occurrence. Robert knew a dog wouldn't be a cure, but he'd read on many of the websites Aaron's new therapist had given him that sometimes having a furry companion helped with anxiety and depression. They had always planned on adopting one once the Mill was livable; the memory of them talking about having kids and pets one day floating around in Robert's head. And if anyone knew what kind of dog Aaron would want, it was Paddy.

“Uh,” Robert says, looking between the dog and Aaron with a mixture of surprise and confusion on his face. “What’s this?”

“Paddy,” Aaron responds as if that explains everything, not taking his eyes off the television program he'd been watching. The dog stares up at Robert, big chocolate brown eyes that he vaguely remembers from the pictures Paddy had texted to him. Robert sits on the arm of the couch next to Aaron and waits for his husband to continue. 

“I figured as much,” Robert says rolling his eyes when Aaron doesn't continue to explain further. He leans forward to scratch the dog’s ears for a few seconds and they lapse into silence again, with the exception of the voices on the TV program. The idea of adopting an animal seems like a great fit for Aaron already, the large dog's head resting on Aaron's lap like he had been made specially molded for the man. And Aaron is more relaxed than Robert has seen him in the weeks since he'd been released from prison. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”

Aaron nods, turning to smile at Robert, “Paddy said so.”

Robert laughs, “Not much of a surprise now, though, is it?”

Aaron shrugs and reaches up to run his free hand through Robert’s tousled hair. He'd been frustrated by Adam's sheer lack of mathematical ability, and had worked on the scrapyard's financial books until it had him pulling at his hair. He'd given up, deciding to go home to his own family before the urge to punch Adam surfaced. He cares about his brother-in-law for the sake of Victoria, but sometimes the man was more frustrating than he even realized. “The shelter couldn’t keep him. Thank you.”

“For?” Robert asks, eyes slipping shut as he leans into Aaron’s touch. 

“For,” Aaron gently pulls Robert down onto the sofa cushion next to him, cuddling into his side and absorbing his warmth. “For adopting a dog and getting along with Paddy long enough to do so. He said you were on your best behavior.”

“Always am,” Robert grunts. They sit in silence for a few moments, Aaron scratching at the dog’s ears like a professional. These are the moments Robert had missed the most while Aaron was inside--the two of them pressed together on the sofa with the TV on low. “So what are you gonna call him?” 

“Paddy said the shelter called him Spot,” Aaron says and scrunches up his nose like the thought of calling any dog Spot is the most disgusting thing he's ever heard. Aaron regards Robert carefully for a moment and then he continues, “I’ve been calling him Jackyboy.”

Robert snorts, “My dad would’ve hated that.”

"Then all the more reason to name the dog Jack," Aaron says with a cheeky grin. "I like Jacky."

"Ain't that for a girl?" Liv says from the doorway, dropping a pile of workbooks on the coffee table next to Aaron's feet. She's drawn to the dog too, cooing and ruffling the fur on the top of his head up it's a scruffy mess. She grins at Aaron once she's finished her masterpiece and says, "Looks like you in the morning too."

"Oi!" Aaron grunts, swiping a hand out to mess up _her_ hair but she ducks away just in time.

"I need help with this," she says, directing her attention towards Robert, simultaneously motioning to the stack of books on the table. Robert looks surprised by the request, but Aaron looks proud of her for how close they seem to have gotten while he was away. "What?"

Robert huffs out a laugh, pressing a lingering kiss to the side of Aaron's head before moving to help Liv with her homework. Aaron feels a swell of heat in the middle of his chest at how domestic it all feels--Robert helping Liv with her homework, something baking in the oven and filling the entire house with the smell of sauce and cheese, and the warm heat of their new dog curled up next to him. Aaron feels happy for the first time in ages, despite everything they've been through in the last year. Robert leans down to scratch the dog's ears again and gets a lick on the inside of his wrist from Jacky in return.

"Guess he approves of ya, then," Aaron says, smiling up at Robert.

"He isn't sleeping on the bed, Aaron," Robert counters with what he hopes is a stern look, pointing an accusatory finger at Aaron's smiling face because he knows exactly where his husband is going with that statement.

Aaron waits until Liv and Robert are sat at the kitchen table, well out of earshot, before he leans down to Jacky and says, "Don't worry, buddy, we'll wear him down."

**Author's Note:**

> i'm [dinglebrose](http://dinglebrose.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.


End file.
